WD (www.wd.com), a subsidiary of Western Digital Corp. has added the USB 3.0 interface to its line of My Passport for Mac portable hard drives (top picture) and increased capacity for Mac computer users up to 2TB. WD is also combining two high-speed technologies to produce one of the fastest dual-storage systems ever offered: the My Book VelociRaptor (bottom pic).
My Passport for Mac
Popular among students and other Mac users who take their digital content everywhere, the My Passport for Mac with USB 3.0 allows users to take advantage of the faster transfer speeds USB 3.0 provides when connecting the drive to their MacBook computer or MacBook Air computer with that interface.
The My Passport for Mac includes password protection and hardware encryption features to protect content from unauthorized use or access. The My Passport for Mac drive is also compatible out of the box with Apple Time Machine for backup to further protect valuable files.
“Today’s mobile consumers are looking for fast, safe, compact and reliable ways to access and transport their digital files,” says Ralf San Jose, director of product marketing for WD’s consumer storage products group. “My Passport for Mac with USB 3.0 adds the convenience of a very fast USB connection that includes added security features that mobile consumers need when away from home. Adding all these benefits with an unmatched industry capacity of 2 TB provides the perfect solution for the demanding Mac customer.”
My Passport for Mac comes with a three-year limited warranty and is available on the WD store (www.wdstore.com) and at select retailers and distributors. My Passport for Mac drives has manufacturer’s suggested retail prices (MSRP) of US$99.99 for the 500GB, $129.99 for the 1TB and $199.99 for the 2TB model.
My Book VelociRaptor
The new My Book VelociRaptor Duo dual-drive storage system is designed to be “the ultimate storage drive for performance hungry Mac computer users and creative professionals,” explains Jody Bradshaw, senior director of WD’s consumer storage solutions group. It sports two 1TB 10,000 RPM WD VelociRaptor drives along with two Thunderbolt ports.
The 2 TB dual-drive storage system is designed for editing high resolution video, 3D rendering, graphic design, and other demanding digital media applications. This boost in performance delivers solid state drive (SSD) -like data transfer rates of up to 400 MB/s for greater work-flow productivity. The dual-drive storage system offers RAID 0 for performance or RAID 1 for protection; and the twin Thunderbolt ports offer daisy-chaining multiple My Book VelociRaptor Duo drives and other high performance peripherals without impacting data transfer speeds or performance. The My Book VelociRaptor Duo also comes complete with a Thunderbolt cable in the box and is user-serviceable.
Photographers, graphic designers and post-production professionals can conduct several high intensity tasks such as video editing and 3D rendering, while completing other graphics-intensive projects, says Bradshaw. My Book VelociRaptor Duo customers will now have the ability to transfer 22GB full-length HD movies in less than 65 seconds, 2000 5 MB pictures in less than 33 seconds and over 500 5 MB songs in less than 8 seconds.
While RAID 0 maximizes the drive’s speed and capacity, RAID 1 support allows users to create a second copy of their digital content on the drive for added protection, security and peace of mind. The drive also provides a JBOD (just a bunch of disks) option for users running a Windows operating system on a Mac.
Additional features found on the My Book VelociRaptor Duo dual-drive storage system include out-of-the-box compatibility with Apple Time Machine and HFS + Journaled for Mac computers; capability for multi-stream workflows; and a 3-year limited warranty.
The My Book VelociRaptor Duo dual-drive storage system is currently available at select U.S. retailers and online at www.wdstore.com, starting at US$899.99 Additional information can be found on the WD website at www.wd.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=860 .
